Your daily dose of cards and crystal wisdom from the workplace.

Monthly Archives: November 2013

Good morning, friends! Bright blessings to you, wherever you are. Today’s Daily Deskhenge just called out to be a simple one card presentation, which makes sense given the card drawn. The Hanged Man is potentially one of the most difficult cards for our modern society to receive because it is the antithesis of what society uses to thrive. Modern American society is all about hustle, information, drawing in and consuming, being the first in line or the first to score the next big thing. We receive and consume without perceiving. We don’t understand because we don’t take long enough to reflect, to allow, to release the old and the completed. The Hanged Man calls on us today to stop. Stop your trains of thought, stop your consumption. Stop spending, chasing, racing around. Release what others are doing and just let that be. We are called to stand where we are and wait. Now, raise your hand if you suck at waiting. (I’m totally raising my hand over here.) I have to hold myself in compassion around this because I am such an instant-gratification monster. I used to have over 25 international news outlets sending me Tweets about everything happening everywhere when it happened because I’m a news junkie, until I had a total meltdown. I had crying fits that I couldn’t explain until I realized that I was taking in global grief and anger and despair just because of my need to be first to know anything. Well, that’s just crazy, and I realized it after maybe a year. (I’m slow.) Now I still have a Twitter feed, but I restrict myself to receiving information about my favorite local sports teams and information from friends–by which I mean people I actually know and hang out with and pictures of whose food and art I actually *want* to see. I released my need to be the first to know anything and everything, and just let myself sit in the peace that came afterwards.

The Hanged Man presents us with an uncomfortable truth: we aren’t really in control of much of anything at all. Facing that truth is what we’re called to do when he appears in any reading, so let’s face it together. We’re here, we can’t control much, but we can control ourselves. Let’s do that.

Good morning, people! Hope you’re all doing well. I’m feeling like I’m running on empty energy-wise, so I thought I would do a spread about what brings us energy and what takes our energy away. And this … well, yeah. It’s one of those readings where the cards are so obvious, they’re doing their “Cosmic Frying Pan Upside The Head” thing. I feel like I’m Wile E. Coyote and I just got KAPOW’ed. My ears are still ringing.

The card on the left, the King of Disks/Pentacles, is what brings us energy. Ok, just look at him. He’s a Pan figure fully embodying the masculine generative principle (you *know* what I’m talking about), and he’s equally fully engaged in what he’s doing. Whether it’s ruling a kingdom (the King of Pentacles is often seen as a hopefully benevolent dictator, a supreme commander and ruler who has his people and his kingdom’s best interests at heart) or just eating that apple in the card there, the King is focused on what he’s doing. In terms of bringing us energy, the card seems pretty obviously indicating that it’s time for some sexytime, if you know what I mean. We draw energy from the sex act, from the pleasure and the intense focus we engage in while doing it. We recharge our batteries by this connection, whether we’re connecting with another (or a group of others) or the Divine within. Or both. Whatever works. Go get lucky. And if you’re single or otherwise unpartnered, take matters into your own hands. Yeah, I went there. 😉

The card on the right, The Hierophant, is what’s sucking our energy away. Look at the image. The Hierophant figure is suckling two near-skeletal figures at her swollen and distended breasts. It’s a harrowing image in the best lights, but in this reading today the light is profoundly negative. Other people are sucking away our life force, and we’re letting them do it. Find those relationships in your life that are draining you and cut them off. Maybe not permanently, especially if they are core relationships, but at least for now. Something in our communities is unhealthy and overly demanding, and we need to turn away from it. So take a look around and see what there is in your life that is taking without giving. Find the leaks, the leeches, the vampires, and cut them off. Maybe just for today, but do it, for your own peace and well being.

Good morning, friends! Today’s Daily Deskhenge is pretty simple, at least compared to the last few. Today’s spread is just looking at what is seen (the card on the left) and what is unseen (the card on the right). These things can be both helpful and hurtful; it all depends on how we interact with these energies when we bump into them. Oh, and the deck I’m using is Mary White’s stunning “Mary-El Tarot.” If you Google “zomg,” you’ll find it. (I hyperbolize, but you get what I’m saying. 😉 )

The card on the left, the 5 of Wands, is what is Seen around us. That’s some mighty powerful energy there represented by the flaming lion, and you can see that it’s charging ahead without really looking where it’s going. It lights the darkness around it, so it can be seen as a useful good. But there’s no clarity here, no focus, and very little direction except charging ahead. We have the light we need to see by, but it would be smart (or at least smartER) of us to slow down, watch where we’re going, pay attention to what we’re doing (NO TEXTING/TWEETING/FACEBOOKING/IM’MING WHILE DRIVING, PEOPLE, and if you’re walking, for the love of all that’s holy, put the phone away when you enter a crosswalk). Actually see where you are and what you’re doing. That’s the warning and advice for today. SEE.

The card on the right, the 8 of Swords, is what is Unseen around us. The unseen is one of the meanings of this card, so it’s doubly important and the energy is doubly resonant. There are things you are not seeing, forces at work of which you are not aware, and paths and choices you can take that you are not aware of at the moment. It’s not a bad time to stop and take a breath before moving forward. That doesn’t mean STOP period. It just means stop, think, and THEN move. The gate may look closed in the image, but it’s not locked. You can open it if you try, and it will admit you if you want to enter. There’s also an element of trust to this card. You have to have faith in yourself to deal with the unseen. Believe your feelings and senses, and trust in your thoughts and impressions. Trust what you cannot see. Leap, and the net will appear.

Good afternoon, my dears! I hope everything is great for you, and that you are all as bright and blessed as I hope you are. Today’s Daily Deskhenge is about engendering kindness. I’ve been a bit of a snarly mess lately, so perhaps it’s time to start actively creating kindness as much as possible to make things around myself more serene and loving not only for me, but for those who have to deal with me. Sometimes that’s the best thing to do when you’re feeling in the dark: create light from within yourself instead of waiting for someone else to come by and flip on the light switch. So let’s give that a try together and see what comes up.

The card on the left shows us what to do to find and hold kindness for ourselves. It’s the 5 of Coins/Pentacles. This card is often read as indicative of poverty consciousness, or that awareness we have that tells us we have less, or are less, than other people. It’s that warning against looking at things from the “I need…” point of view instead of looking at them from the “I’m grateful for ….” point of view. Our thoughts create our reality, so be very careful what you think about yourself today. For example, I’m often prone to thinking nasty thoughts about myself when I look in the mirror. I’m a large gal and I tend to get bitterly creative in my self-bashing invective (the 5 of Coins/Pentacles rears its ugly head), but instead of doing that, I’m going to express gratitude for all the beauty passed down to me from my ancestors that other people don’t have. My family may not have the best skin ever, but we do have beautiful eyes, strong bones, and piles and piles of pretty nice hair. Focus on the good. Focus on that which is a blessing for you, that came from your people. You have great beauty and goodness for which to be grateful, my friends, that you share with your blood relations both past and present. If I can see it, so can you. The man in the card is showing us a window in his heart. Go within and see the beauty that’s truly there, not the vision from without that you think is real.

The card on the right, The Hierophant, shows us where to generate and show kindness toward others today. The Hierophant is the Conductor of the Mysteries, the guardian of the High Priestess, the one without whom we cannot access tradition and community wisdom. The Hierophant is community spirituality, the religions of the world in both their good and bad aspects. Be kind to others in the same way that the Nazarene was kind even to those who were killing him. Hold in love and compassion those who don’t understand you, who hate you, who want your death or destruction. You don’t have to engage with those people (please don’t, actually), but hold them in loving compassion today. Have pity on them, and be kind to them in your thoughts. Don’t take it personally when you’re cut off on the freeway (I’m so talking to myself right now on this one). Don’t take snappishness, rudeness, bad behavior, or anything else unpleasant personally. You don’t know everything that other people are going through. You don’t know why that person is racing down the freeway: maybe that young man is late for a meeting that could save his job, or maybe that Mom is trying to get to her child’s school because the child is sick. Maybe that person is just a total 100% entitled douchebag tool who needs your prayers to find him or herself in a greater place of loving serenity. People in our society are sick, even the healthy ones. The society itself is sick, so naturally everybody in the society is going to be sick. Hating them for being sick isn’t going to help anybody. Being angry at them for being idiots or douchebags or racist jerks or whatever isn’t going to help anybody, but it will hurt you. That’s a guarantee you can take to the bank. But what are you supposed to do with all this upsetness? There isn’t an anti-angry-at-idiots pill you can take to get rid of the hurt, so you’ve got to get rid of it somehow. The Hierophant says, “Bring it to me.” Talk to somebody. That’s the worst part about our sick society: we think that talking to someone about our pain and anger makes us weak. It doesn’t. It liberates us, and it may liberate others. Find someone to talk to, a community leader or spiritual presence in your life who will just listen. Hell, you can just go into any church that leaves its doors open and sit down and talk to Spirit for awhile, if you can’t find anyone to talk to face-to-face. Unburden yourself of your feelings so that treating others with kindness will be easier. We’re heading into the season when shopping, spending, buying, and “feeling the spirit” have become some sort of competitive blood sport, and kindness is pretty much left sprawling in the dust. Be the bigger person when you find yourself in these situations. Slow down. Breathe. Give yourself the gift of time and loving compassion, and then pass that gift on to others.

Good afternoon, friends! Today’s Daily Deskhenge is all about allies and enemies. Sometimes it’s just that simple when it comes to divination: we want to know who is helping us and who is hurting us. Is that new acquaintance a friend or a foe? This layout here does just that: the card on the left is the good guy/gal, the friend, the White Hat hero with the silver bullets and the excellent timing and the fabulous abs and great hair who will save us from ourselves and our enemies. The card on the right is the Black Hat, the bad guy/gal, the twisty-mustachioed villain, the chaos element bent on making us absolutely insane with their behavior (or their response to our own behavior, which is often the case even though we don’t like to admit it).

Judgment is our White Hat, our hero. It’s a card of endings and discernment, and also of planning and preparation for great change. It’s a card of being called, of being chosen, which is always nice. 🙂 And it’s a card of warning and a sort of cosmic “Heads up!” It’s like having your own spy on the Other Side who is sending you a secret message telling you to pack your things and get ready to go. So that’s what’s going on here: we are being advised that we will be moving on, and it’s time to start getting ready. Get your affairs in order. Make your plans and arrangements. (I’m pretty sure this isn’t meant to be as creepy as it’s starting to sound, but you never know with these things. Just a nod on that.) Pay attention to the signs around you, and have faith that all is proceeding as it’s meant to. The stone I’ve put down with this card is my Ancestor rock from the Sterkfontein Caves. Our ancestors planned and prepared, and they are sharing that wisdom with us now.

The 5 of Pentacles is our Black Hat, the demon enemy trying to trip us up. It’s a card of poverty consciousness, of “Other-ness Awareness” (as it were), a card of envy, jealousy, and bitterness. Don’t get lost in wanting what other people have. We are all guilty of it, and we’re all capable of it. We’re human, after all, and this is a very human card. There’s a huge opportunity for compassion and self-awareness here, if we are wise enough to see and take advantage of it: if we can acknowledge how envy and self-disrespect undermine our efforts and how we are all guilty of such feelings, we can stop taking them personally and stop having shame around them, and just notice that that’s how we’re feeling. By doing so, we steal the power of the card away from our Black Hat enemy. We become able to back up and see our own envy and jealousy from a distance, and can learn over time to hold such feelings (and ourselves) with compassion and understanding. The stone I’ve put down with this card is the Iron Pyrite, the “Fool’s Gold.” Don’t be so blinded by your own passions and feelings that you mistake a pretender for the real thing.

Good morning, friends! Today’s Daily Deskhenge is a simple one: I just focused on today, and then the words “Yes” and “No,” meaning what should we be looking for in the affirmative today, and what should we be avoiding (or what will manifest itself in the negative today). The Knight of Pentacles on the left is the “Yes” card. Isn’t that always the way? The fun-looking PAR-TAY card on the right, the 3 of Cups, is the “No” card. Boo! 🙂 But let’s look closer at what we have.

The Knight of Pentacles is reviewing his work. He’s put a lot of effort and energy into what he’s done, and he’s seeing what needs to be done going forward. Weighing his options. Checking his to-do list. Of all the Knights in the Tarot, his is the only horse who is not moving. The engine and source of movement in the card, the horse waits patiently for direction about the work to be done. Now is the time for clear, vigorous thought about what steps to take next. And you can’t do that well if you’re drunk or hung-over, which leads us to the “No” card.

The 3 of Cups can be seen as a card of relaxation, connection, and enjoyment–after all, what do you think is *in* those cups up there? In vino veritas, right? But considering the meaning of the card within the context of the layout of “Yes” and “No,” it makes sense if we see that we’re being advised to avoid celebration at the moment. It’s not the right time to let go of the work ethic we’ve worked so hard to cultivate so far, nor the right time to engage in group projects that distract us from our purpose. Stay true to what you’re doing–we’ve all seen the movie where a student/hero is faced with either studying for the upcoming exam or blowing studying off to go party, right? And the subsequent plot of the movie is driven by the consequences of the actions of that student/hero. Well, the same is true for us: stick to your goals and avoid the party demons for now. There will be plenty of time to celebrate later.

Hello, friends! Today’s Daily Deskhenge is a simple one about what’s hidden. What are we not seeing that can help us if we did see it, and what are we not seeing that can hurt us if we don’t see it? This is a great spread for just checking out the energy flow around you. So let’s see what we have for today. The card on the left, the Knight of Cups, is what we’re not seeing that can help us. We have a champion out there, someone passionate and kind who is carrying our good fortune forward. We’re not seeing him or her because perhaps we’re looking elsewhere, or we’re distracted by the tasks and mindlessness of the day. This card is inviting us to stop and look around — literally. I mean, check out the card: the guy is sitting on a slow-moving horse, so he’s got loads of time to look around at his environment as he passes through it. He’s keeping focus on the cup because that’s his passion and his quest. The horse has its eyes on the ground, watching where it’s going, measuring the path. This is someone trustworthy and empathetic (and maybe empathic), a deep feeler who believes in you. Look around and see if you can find him/her. The stone beneath that card is Aventurine, a beautiful and passionate stone embodying creativity and leadership.

The card on the right, the 6 of Wands, is what we’re not seeing that can hurt us. Are you engaging in arrogant behavior? Can your behavior be perceived as arrogant, even if you don’t think it is? That’s something to be aware of, and to watch out for. It’s also important to keep an eye out for a successful person who is not your friend. There’s something sketchy going on — seriously, look at the face the horse is giving the guy. It’s like the horse is saying, “Really? You’re going there? Really?” The 6 here indicates a victory, but not the end. The battle may have been won by this other person or persons, but the war’s not over. Use your head. Pay attention to your own judgment, keep your own counsel, and keep quiet. The victories of these other folks might be more short-lived than they think, and you’d rather be toward the back end of that parade than up front when it all goes wrong. The stone I use here is a simple quartz crystal egg, something that will amplify and clarify both the feelings around this card and the indications of what to do about them.